zulu.1819.toilets
A pressing issue
Where’s a public toilet when you need one?
… and what state will it be in if you can find one? And will SA’s public conveniences be able to cope with the “added flow” come 2010?
story by TEDDY GOMBA
YOU don’t think about them until you really need to use them – and, usually, that’s when you find out there aren’t any. Or find there aren’t any you can use without the kind of protective gear you need for working with radioactive material.
We are, of course, talking about public toilets.
But while many feel there’s a severe shortage of public toilets in our big cities, the municipalities disagree.
Take Joburg municipality, for instance – it assures us citizens will find a toilet when one is needed.
But one just has to read the letters to newspapers after an event like Joburg’s annual Zoo Lake Jazz Festival to appreciate that not everyone’s prepared to hold it in until they find a place to answer Mother Nature’s call.
Complaints from Zoo Lake residents of public defecation and urination, sometimes in driveways and front gardens, are common.
But the city municipality is defensive when questioned about such a sensitive topic, and is quick to point out the city is continually opening new toilets.
Upgraded
The latest is in Newtown. Described by the council utility company, Johannesburg Development Agency, as the “best seats” in town, two pod-like structures accommodate eight toilets each, with soap dispensers and electric hand dryers in a silver finish.
The purple structures are situated in Mary Fitzgerald Square and the parking lot of the Market Theatre complex.
“There’re 98 toilets for use by the public who commute to and from the city,” says Joburg Council spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane.
“Of these, 36 are situated in the inner city. All have been upgraded and are cleaned regularly.
“The current facilities are fairly well-distributed to meet the needs of pedestrian traffic in the inner city and there are plans to build more at hotspots that have been identified.
“Overall the city’s toilets are in a satisfactory condition.”
But while the council claims there’re enough public toilets, South Africans often have to pay for the luxury. Like the case of the 14 public toilets at the city’s taxi ranks, where a charge of between 50c to R1 is levied.
These toilets are built at taxi ranks with shops and rented out to taxi associations and businesses. As the council doesn’t provide cleaners, unemployed individuals make money by cleaning the toilets. So the reasoning is that a charge to use the toilets is the only way to maintain them.
But the question remains, what happens if you don’t have money?
Well, the smell coming from behind the taxi rank answers that question.
Lazy
But even if you have money, using public toilets often remains a challenge.
While many public toilets are provided with toilet-roll holders, each of which can hold up to two complete rolls of toilet paper at one time, there remains the risk of being caught without toilet paper before the next replacement comes along.
To aggravate the situation, the Joburg Council standing committee on corporate affairs found that municipal employees charged with the responsibility of cleaning these toilets often take the toilet paper home instead of placing it in the public toilets.
It also found that in some areas like Soweto cleaners lock the toilets because they’re too lazy to clean them, leaving the public to defecate at the door leading to the toilets.
However, Joburg assures residents its facilities will be able to accommodate the thousands of soccer spectators who’ll descend on the city in 2010.
Council spokesman Modingoane says apart from the mentioned public toilets, the city has 72 public toilets at various city parks that are being upgraded.
Initiatives
“The city is currently exploring various options for the management and maintenance of the facilities.
“The city,” he adds, “is working on a sustainable maintenance and refurbishment plan for these facilities that will look at all practical efforts of ensuring that these facilities are well kept.
“Public awareness initiatives are being created in so far as taking ownership of these facilities. The aim of these initiatives will be to encourage and educate members of the public not to vandalise and to report any form of vandalism to the authorities.”
But despite the municipal assurances, the fact remains that public toilets, if not unhygienic, are also unsafe.
Since 2002 the numbers of violent crimes committed in Johannesburg’s public toilets, including murder and rape, have increased.
But the council says steps have been taken to ensure that people using their toilets are safe. “We have people managing and monitoring the city’s toilets from eight in the morning till the afternoon, and even after hours too, says Modingoane
But it seems as if the municipalities have a long, hard road ahead of them in eradicating the scourge of public defecation and urination. [e]
BONA – August 2007
3RD PAGE O/FLOW HEAD (IF NECESSARY):
BONA – August 2007
What do you think?
Are Joburg’s public toilets well-maintained and are there enough of them?
What about SA’s other cities? What’s the public toilet situation like in Durban or Cape Town, Mthatha or Bloemfontein?
Will our public toilets do us proud when 2010 comes along?
Have your say, tell us what you think. Write to: Letters To Editor, Box 32083, Mobeni, 4060.
